CSU Rams riding momentum into Rocky Mountain Showdown vs. CU Buffs

By Mike Brohard

Loveland Reporter-Herald

Posted:
08/27/2017 04:11:33 PM MDT

Updated:
08/27/2017 05:03:01 PM MDT

Colorado State linebacker helped start the celebration Saturday when he returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown in a 58-27 win over Oregon State. The Rams have a short turnaround with a Friday date for the Rocky Mountain Showdown against Colorado in Denver. (Michael Brian / Loveland Reporter-Herald)

FORT COLLINS — The moment was one some Colorado State fans felt was a lifetime in the making.

Football returned to campus Saturday afternoon, and the Rams made it memorable with 58-27 thrashing of visiting Oregon State with an impressive second half. Colorado State coach Mike Bobo received congratulations from school president Tony Frank and Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson on the field after the game, but Bobo also took the time to thank the fans, walking the perimeter and shaking hands.

The victory in the new on-campus stadium was so fun it was easy to even have fun with the bad plays. Quarterback Nick Stevens could laugh at himself and provided the best line of the post-game press conference when discussing his ill-advised throw into the end zone in the third quarter.

"I was just trying to make a great play, but I should of just trucked the dude and ran it in myself," he quipped.

Yet in the locker room afterward, Bobo had cut the player's celebration time in half, chopping the 24-hour rule down to 12.

The rise was real enough for the players crawling out of bed Sunday morning as a short workweek awaited them with in-state foe Colorado coming up in Friday's Rocky Mountain Showdown at Mile High Stadium (6 p.m.; Pac-12 Network).

In a word: Embarrassing.

That's how the Rams remember last year's Showdown, which turned out to be a major letdown for all of them in a 44-7 loss in which nothing went right.

"Nobody likes getting embarrassed like we did last year," receiver Michael Gallup said. "That was a tough game to come back from."

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Not like that. Not 225 yards of offense, just 63 passing and no first downs in the first half. Not giving up 21 points in the first quarter to take you out of the opener before the crowd has even really gotten settled.

Fellow wideout Detrich Clark was sitting right next to him at the table, and he had the same take on how that afternoon played out, then quickly hit the points where he thinks this time around will be different.

"Nobody likes to get embarrassed like that. I mean, I remember I almost cried after the game I was so embarrassed," he said. "I think it's more so us being more mature than last year, knowing where we're supposed to line up and we can play a lot faster when we know what to do."

That's the way the Rams looked against the Beavers. They were leading heading into the locker room at half, then blew the doors off the final two quarters. A defense that only produced 14 turnovers all of 2016 had five on the day, including Tre Thomas' 44-yard interception return for a score.

The bonus is the Rams have now played, have rid themselves of the first-game jitters and have gone from thinking they can do something to knowing they can against a Pac-12 team.

That's what Colorado is, one that won the South Division a year ago. The Buffs' pluses are they have game film of the current Rams — no guessing needed — and a full offseason to prepare.

Colorado State, they have six days, though Bobo admitted to getting a jump-start.

"We'll be short and sweet with a review of this game," Bobo said of the win. "We'll tag only a few plays offensively and defensively that we've got to get corrected, special teams. The CU plan is done. They didn't have a game today, and we had the plans done way back in the summer. Now, we'll make some adjustments on how our guys played today and what fits us better as we form our identity offensively, defensively and special teams."

On the Colorado State calendar, Sunday becomes Monday, Monday moves to Tuesday and so on down the line until Friday's kickoff has that Saturday feel and approach.

The consistency has to reside in the approach this week, because the normal day of rest following a game won't be there. The knowing they now have some answers to their preseason questions is of major comfort to them.

"It's always difficult that first game. You don't have film on them that year," center Jake Bennett said. "I think it's good for us to get out there and get the juices flowing again. We're going to have a short week obviously, and we're going to come in here (Sunday) and turn on CU. It was good for us to have a game and get the juices flowing."

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